Insert your own “when it rains, it pours” joke right here. Darren Aronofsky’s instantly controversial biblical epic ‘Noah‘ overcame mixed buzz to win the box office this weekend, catering to both religious audiences and film buffs who like weird movies from unique, picky directors. But all was not well for everyone — the latest film from a certain Hollywood action legend got washed away in ‘Noah”s success.

Film

Weekend

Per Screen

1

Noah

$44,000,000

$12,335

$44,000,000

2

Divergent

$26,500,000 (-51.5)

$6,733

$95,260,000

3

Muppets Most Wanted

$11,373,000 (-33.1)

$3,561

$33,210,000

4

Mr. Peabody & Sherman

$9,500,000 (-19.7)

$2,880

$94,909,000

5

God’s Not Dead

$9,075,000 (-1.5)

$7,704

$22,028,000

6

The Grand Budapest Hotel

$8,825,000 (+30.0)

$9,033

$24,457,000

7

Sabotage

$5,330,000

$2,144

$5,330,000

8

Need For Speed

$4,335,000 (-45.4)

$1,603

$37,753,000

9

300: Rise of an Empire

$4,300,000 (-49.4)

$1,653

$101,145,000

10

Non-Stop

$4,087,000 (-36.5)

$1,625

$85,167,000

With two audiences working in its favor, ‘Noah’ took the top spot with ease, grossing $44 million over the weekend. Considering how mixed responses to the film have been (especially from certain religious corners), the film may take a steep drop next weekend. But for the moment, Aronofsky, Russell Crowe and Paramount Pictures have saved face on their big, expensive, risky project. With a little luck, the controversy will actually fuel a strong second weekend.

But Arnold Schwarzenegger was completely unable to save face. With an opening weekend of only $5 million in seventh place, his ‘Sabotage‘ is already on the road to being his biggest flop, opening lower than 2012′s ‘The Last Stand.’ That’s a rough number for an actor who, pre-political career, was one of the biggest movie stars in the world. Nothing and no one can ever take Schwarzenegger’s glory days away from him, but there’s no denying that his box office clout has completely vanished in his old age.

However, there were plenty of other positive things going on in this weekend’s top 10. In second place, ‘Divergent‘ took a fairly steep drop, but not too steep. Its second weekend gross of $25 million puts it at a current gross of $95 million, which means it’ll cross $100 million in a few days. So yeah, we’ll be getting that sequel for sure (and most likely a third film, too).

In third place, ‘Muppets Most Wanted‘ performed, well, interestingly. Taking only a 33% drop, the family film took in $11 million for a $33 million total. That’s not an amazing number, but it showcases some quietly strong legs that could propel the film to profitability, if not unqualified success. It didn’t cost that much, after all.

Fourth place belonged to ‘Mr. Peabody & Sherman,’ which made $9 million for a $94 million total. $100 million is in the bag, but it’ll most likely stop far before $150 million, ensuring its success but not necessarily ensuring a sequel. Then again, ‘Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs’ got a sequel with a similar gross, so you never can tell.

‘God’s Not Dead’ held onto the fifth spot with the help of the faith-based crowd, grossing $9 million for a $22 million total. It dropped an astonishing 1.5%. Yes, religious people like going to movies, too.

But so do Wes Anderson fans, who bumped ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel‘ into sixth place. Grossing $8 million (a 30% boost over last week), the film how has $24 million and looks like it’s one the road to being the most successful film of Anderson’s career. That’s huge.

Things get a little less exciting in the home stretch. ‘Need For Speed‘ kept on limping, ‘300: Rise of an Empire‘ broke $100 million without much fanfare and ‘Non-Stop‘ can practically taste $100 million. The last piece of real exciting news comes outside of the top 10: ‘Frozen‘ has officially become the highest grossing animated film of all time, the highest grossing film that’s not a sequel or directed by James Cameron and the highest grossing Disney film that isn’t under the Marvel banner. Those are a lot of qualifiers, but it’s big, big news.

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